Arizona Cardinals Extend Carson Palmer, Fitzgerald

Fresh off a 13-3 season and NFC West Division crown, the Arizona Cardinals have extended Pro Bowl wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald and quarterback Carson Palmer, who finished 3rd in MVP voting a year ago.

Following an impressive season that ended with an emphatic thud in the NFC Championship game in Carolina, the Cardinals look to again be a force in the NFC. With weapons all across the offensive side of the ball and one of the best defenses in the NFL, the Cards are considered by most to be a top 3 team in the conference.

At the age of 32, under contract for the 2016 season at $11M, Fitzgerald signed a 1-year extension that will pay him another $11M in the 2017 season.

After three consecutive mediocre seasons by his standards and many people believing his career was on the downturn, Larry Fitzgerald turned back the clock and put up one of the most productive seasons of his career. He finished with 109 receptions, 1215 yards, and 9 touchdowns, showing his previous lack of production was more a product of the inconsistent quarterback play than anything else.

Once Carson Palmer came to the desert, both players revived their careers and flourished.

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Carson Palmer, 36, is also signed through 2016 and signed another year extension through 2017. Being a top tier quarterback, his deal is worth significantly more than Fitzgerald’s. Palmer’s average annual salary will be on par with the top paid quarterbacks in the league — at $24.5M. Palmer not only revived a career that was literally over, but produced the best season of his entire career a year ago.

After an unceremonious exit from the Cincinnati team that drafted him, he spent two seasons in Oakland where most veterans’ careers go to die. It was a trade to the Cardinals that provided a jolt of life to Palmer’s career and turned out to be mutual to a franchise that seemed lost after the retirement of Kurt Warner. In the right situation, Palmer thrived and began to look more like the legitimate quarterback he came into the league as and less like the aging veteran who’s career never quite lived up to expectations due to a number of significant injuries.

With two of their most important and productive players locked up and the next breakout running back in David Johnson, the Arizona offense is primed to be one of the best in football. Pair that with one of the league’s top defenses and 2-time coach of the year in the past three seasons — Bruce Arians — and you’ve got quite a force to be reckoned with in the NFC once again.